


Closer To Heaven

by silkmoth



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Angst, First Time, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-10
Updated: 2011-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-14 15:31:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkmoth/pseuds/silkmoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It can be really cold – Sitting on a tree in winter, surrounded by wolves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closer To Heaven

**Closer To Heaven**

  
“I told you! I told you, but noooo…! The almighty prince just had to be right!”

Arthur didn’t tell Merlin to shut up; it wouldn’t be fair because his manservant had a point here. Merlin had bitched and bitched the whole morning, and by midday he had actually begun to plead with Arthur; but as Merlin had said: _Noooooo._

Arthur sighed. They were screwed, both of them, just because Arthur couldn’t stand the teasing of his father and his father’s knights. They wouldn’t let him forget that he hadn’t managed to hunt down the really big stag, although he had tried again and again the whole autumn. And now winter had come and the snow had been falling for three days without letting up… and Arthur had decided to go on a very small hunt, just him and his manservant. Dammit, he had wanted that stag; he wanted the antlers on his bedroom wall. The animal had to be old, therefore said antlers were enormous, bigger than anything Arthur had ever seen.

So he had dragged Merlin out of his room at dawn, thrust some warm clothes and boots on him, and then hauled him out into the woods, first on horses, but soon on foot. The horses had been very shy for some reason… and by now, Arthur knew why. He had just to glance down from the branch of the big oak they were sitting on and look into the eyes of about ten obviously very hungry wolves. Arthur really wondered why Merlin hadn’t yet mentioned the cross-bow.

“And you know what your best move was? To drop the cross-bow with the arrows, shrieking like a girl, while you were trying to get up here!”

Again, Arthur didn’t answer. He remembered shrieking like a girl. Well, everyone would have if a wolf had its teeth buried in one’s pants. If Merlin hadn’t jumped up that tree like a deranged squirrel, jerking the prince up right behind him, Arthur would have lost more than a shred of clothing.

“And now what, _Your Highness_? Should I sacrifice myself for you?”

“As if they would go for your scrawny body,” Arthur muttered.

“Yeah, you’re right. You go down there… maybe I can make it then.”

“We’ll just wait. They will go away.”

As if on cue, the wolves began to sit down. Arthur closed his eyes, just in time.

“Yes, it looks like this will happen. Hey, maybe we can wait until they’ve fallen asleep?”

“Maybe you could just go on with your blathering; I’m sure all of them will be unconscious in no time then.”

“Fine.”

Merlin crossed his arms, leaned back on the trunk and pressed his lips together. His whole body screamed: There! No word will come out of my mouth again, _forever_.

If it just would be true.

***

Arthur was cold and if he was cold, Merlin had to be freezing by now. The sun was setting, and it became more and more chilly every minute. Not that this seemed to interest the pack down there; to the contrary, the beasts still looked up serenely at the two men sitting on the tree, panting and probably drooling already. Arthur really wished he had told his father about this hunting trip, but the King had been in meetings even before Arthur had got dressed… and he would continue to be in meetings the whole day. His father wouldn’t miss him, and Gaius hadn’t been there either when the prince had come for Merlin. So no soul in Camelot knew where they were and nobody would come and look for them.

Maybe in the morning, somebody –probably Gaius- would miss at least Merlin, but… the snow still came down and every trace they may had left would be gone by tomorrow. Not to mention that Arthur seriously started to doubt that Merlin would survive the night in this coldness.

“You’re cold?”

“No, Arthur, I feel cozy,” Merlin answered, teeth chattering.

The prince stood up and squinted into the approaching darkness for a better place to stay the night. Ignoring Merlin’s “What are you doing?” he noticed a few meters upwards three even bigger branches, almost in the shape of a little platform.

“We should go up there.”

“Oh yes, great, let’s climb a little more in the dark. Look, they are already excited down there!”

Arthur glanced at the wolves; indeed, a few of them had stood up and were actually wagging their tails. One of them even put his front paws on the trunk, looking up at him expectantly.

“Well, it could be worse. At least there’s no bear down there.”

Regretting his words immediately, Arthur winced.

“BEAR?” Merlin screeched, eyes big as dinner plates.

“There is no bear, Merlin. The wolves wouldn’t be down there if…”

“Oh great! So when the wolves run away, the fun will really begin? Gods, I can’t believe I actually followed you out here!” Merlin scrambled to his feet, swaying slightly. “You and your damned pride! So what if you didn’t get the stupid stag? I didn’t see your father being successful eith…”

“Shut up!” Arthur shouted, as always stung when someone, especially Merlin, mentioned his pride; he had done his best to overcome it, had learned his lesson with the Unicorn but sometimes… his thoughts broke off when he saw Merlin, who had actually jumped a bit at Arthur’s yell, swaying even more and then… losing his footing. For a second, the prince looked into horror filled blue eyes, and then Merlin was falling backwards… and was snatched back to Arthur’s chest in the last moment. With Merlin clutched tightly to him, Arthur turned around to press his manservant’s body against the trunk, grabbing a branch about them with his right hand. _Gods_.

Merlin dug his fingers almost painfully into Arthur’s waist, shaking badly.

“Are you all right?”

“Uh… yes.”

Arthur looked at Merlin; his manservant seemed to be everything but all right. And –dammit- his lips were blue. Arthur laid his free hand on Merlin’s which was still digging into his side… the fingers under his were ice-cold.

“You’re freezing!”

“What do you expect? Of course I’m cold!”

“No, I am cold, _you_ are freezing!”

“Well, excuse me! I don’t have silken undershirts or woolen undergarments! You shoved that tunic, coat and boots on me, that’s it.”

Bloody hell.

“Why don’t you have any…” Arthur broke off, horrified. He almost banged his head on the bark in front of him. Why indeed? Because he, the Crown Prince, hadn’t thought about giving stuff like this to his manservant of two years.

“Arthur, it’s my fault, okay? I mean I could have bought some clothes instead of spending my money on other… things.”

“No, it’s not! The fault is mine! As your master, I have to provide proper clothing for you!”

“Master, hm?” Merlin grinned. “Well, you did give me a hat once.”

Arthur didn’t think that funny at all; he couldn’t even bring himself to smile back slightly. He had to get Merlin warm _somehow_.

“Listen, hold on to the trunk. I will climb up there and…”

“Don’t you dare leave me here!”

“I won’t! I’ll pull you up as soon as I can get a safe stand.”

“Arthur…”

“Look, we have to get up there! We can sit comfortably and maybe even sleep a little; here, sooner or later one of us will fall down.”

***

“Have you any idea why no one is looking for us?”

Arthur bit on his lips and wrapped Merlin even more tightly into his fur lined cape, trying to settle the lanky length of the other man somehow onto his lap. The prince had been right –at least once today – they could sit far better on the naturally formed landing; sleeping could be possible, too. The big branches seemed to almost embrace them, falling down wasn’t likely. But it seemed impossible to warm up his manservant; even through his own far thicker clothing Arthur could feel the cold emitting from the other body.

“Arthur?” Again the rattling of teeth.

“Because I didn’t tell anyone; it was a spur of a moment thing.”

“Shit. Uh, Arthur… maybe I should tell you that… _What are you doing?_ ”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’ve lost your mind! Why the hell are you undressing?”

“Because I have to get you warm somehow!”

Arthur drew his tunic over his head, quickly followed by said silken undershirts. His skin was immediately covered in goosebumps; dammit, it was extremely cold.

“Arthur! You… you’re crazy! What sense will it make if _you_ freeze to death? Look… Gods… ah well. This isn’t necessary, I can…”

“Shut it!” Arthur wrestled Merlin out of the cape and his tunic; whatever else his manservant said got muffled by the rough undressing. Now they were both naked to the waist… and Arthur started to get nervous. He knew this feeling all too well, and suppressed it ruthlessly. Ignoring the enticing pale skin and the even more fascinating black tuffs of hair, he pulled the first undershirt over Merlin’s head.

“Ow! My ears!”

Oh, Arthur had at least ten replies on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say a word. Merlin was close, far too close, and he looked… ridiculous, of course, but also… cute. Very cute. Black hair standing up on end, indignant huge blue eyes staring at the prince. And the silken undershirt was hiding the skin but was enhancing the hard nipples under it. And Merlin was sitting on Arthur’s lap. And if Merlin moved one inch, Arthur would jump down from this damned tree and try his luck with the wolves.

Merlin moved, two inches, actually. Freezing all over, Arthur noticed he couldn’t jump down because his manservant was _sitting on top of him_. He watched Merlin looking down at their by now touching laps, then look up at him again. Arthur was so screwed. Forget the nipples, now those beautiful lips were right in front of Arthur’s face. Oh yeah, he was screwed.

“Uh…”

Maybe Merlin would just punch him in the face, that would be fine with Arthur. Gods, months of avoiding staring at Merlin’s crotch, butt or lips… all shot to hell because Arthur had to go on a hunt. That would teach him; he would never hunt down another animal in his life, hell, he would even let the rats live and… While he was still staring at Merlin’s face which got redder and redder by the minute, Arthur suddenly decided, if he would get punched, then it would be for a damn good reason. Certainly not for an embarrassing, inconvenient hard-on. He slid his arms completely around Merlin’s waist, drew the other man close to his naked chest– and wow, he hadn’t known these eyes could get so big- and pressed his lips straight on Merlin’s.

***

Weirdly, Arthur’s first thought was: _How the hell is it possible that his lips are softer than Gwen’s?_ Merlin made a curious sound, and Arthur just pressed on desperately. It had worked with Gwen, after all. Gods, he really should stop thinking of Gwen right now, because this line of thought brought home the fact that Gwen’s low-cut cleavage didn’t come even close to turning him on as hard as Merlin’s smile did; not to speak of Merlin’s breast hair and Arthur was very sure Gwen didn’t have… Merlin made another sound, clearly impatient now, and Arthur tensed, expecting The Punch. It never came. Merlin wriggled around a bit, which at once drove every thought of Gwen right out of Arthur’s mind, and then Merlin… kissed Arthur. And Arthur had to admit that if _this_ was kissing, he himself had never kissed anyone at all.

Merlin’s tongue was sliding over Arthur’s lips and it immediately capitalized on his startled moan and slipped into his mouth. Arthur clutched Merlin even tighter and he fumbled around until he found the hem of the shirt and finally got his hands on Merlin’s skin. Some part of his mind noticed that the pack down there was yapping and growling, but he didn’t care. As long as he didn’t hear a bear climb up the tree, he wouldn’t care about anything than the man in his arms.

Merlin groaned and wriggled _again_ in the most delightful way, then he slid one of his hands, that were buried in Arthur’s hair, slowly downwards over Arthur’s throat, shoulder, and stopped at Arthur’s right nipple, drawing little circles with his thumb on top of it. By now, Arthur made some serious noises; noises that would probably make any bear run straight back to its cave. Getting breathless, Arthur ripped his mouth away from Merlin’s, stared for a second into his manservant’s dark eyes, and then lunged forward again, pressing his lips on Merlin’s throat, soon followed by his tongue because he had to know how that skin tasted. _Deliciously_.

All of a sudden, Merlin’s hands were at Arthur’s waistband, fumbling around and finally ripping on the belt. Oh Gods, yes. Arthur bit gently into the soft skin beneath his lips, and was rewarded by another moan from Merlin, and slid his hands around from Merlin’s back to his stomach. Suddenly, Arthur noticed that while he was hot all over, Merlin, who was basically covering him, was still trembling, skin ice cold. Where the hell was that… heart already sinking, Arthur twisted around slightly and stared down at the ground. There, out of reach, lay the warmest piece of clothing they had had. Arthur’s fur lined cape. It must have fallen down while things have gotten… out of hand up in the tree. Arthur dimly remembered growling sounds from the wolves; now he knew why the beasts had been angry. The fur was, well, wolf’s fur.

This was so not good.

“Arthur? What the hell are you doing?”

Arthur looked back at Merlin, and whatever his manservant saw in his face, it made him suddenly swear at the prince.

“You.. you ass! What, you’re having second thoughts? NOW?”

“Merlin…”

“No! You... I don’t even know what to call you! Oh, oh… this is about Gwen, isn’t it? I don’t believe it!”

Merlin tried to get off Arthur’s lap and the prince pulled him back just as quickly.

“Let go off me!”

“Merlin!” Arthur actually started to shake the other man. “This isn’t about Gwen! Gods, you have to be kidding me!”

If it wouldn’t have been the worst idea in history, Arthur would have probably fallen down, laughing hysterically. Gwen? Every romantic interest he ever had in her – and let’s face it, he had never been _sexually_ interested in her at all- had died in the moment Merlin had kissed him back, had shown him that _he was willing to be with Arthur_.

“What then?” Merlin asked in an annoyed tone, teeth already chattering again.

“The cape.”

“What?”

“The cape has fallen down.”

Merlin squinted at the ground, as did Arthur. Thanks to the full moon they weren’t hard to see, neither the wolves nor the cape. On which by now the biggest wolf sat on top of.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“We still have my coat.”

“It has no fur,” Arthur said quietly. “And anyway, it’s not big enough for both of us. Merlin, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. We will _die_.”

Merlin looked at him, grimacing almost painfully, and then… and then the _twit_ actually rolled his eyes.

“No. No, we really won’t. Put a hold on the dramatics.”

“Merlin…”

“Ah hell! Why… Did we really have to stop?”

“You were freezing. Your skin is ice cold, dammit! I had to look for the cape and…”

“Arthur… yeah, I’m cold. But I would have survived it. I just… I wish I could have had this memory before… it’s all over.”

Arthur felt a lump in his throat. He pulled Merlin close again and kissed his cheek.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” And yes, Arthur was. He shouldn’t have stopped, they could have had at least one moment together. Bloody hell, so what if he sounded dramatic. He was feeling _very_ dramatic. “Look, at least we won’t be alone. Hey.”

Merlin glanced up at him hesitantly, with an extremely weird look in his eyes.

“Hey?”

“I love you, Merlin.”

Okay, Arthur hadn’t really expected tears and oaths of never dying love in this situation, though it still would have been nice; but what he most certainly had not expected was another bout of loud swearing.

“Oh you… you have to say that? You… Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I don’t believe this!”

Arthur swallowed; well, it wasn’t the first time he had fallen for someone who wasn’t in love with him… and he could handle Merlin’s curses better than Gwen’s longing tearful glances at Lancelot. And in a few hours none of it would matter anyway. Still…

“‘Thank you, but no, thank you’, would have been enough,” Arthur said coldly, drawing back from his manservant as far as he could, which really wasn’t far because Merlin was sitting on his thighs.

Merlin, who was still swearing under his breath, stopped all of a sudden.

“You don’t understand anything, Arthur. ‘Thanks, but no thanks’? You _idiot_. I… I’m in love with you. I think I’ve loved you for almost two years now, you ass! But…” Merlin’s voice became quiet, “… it won’t matter. You’ll see.”

And before Arthur could utter one more word, Merlin raised his hand, his eyes flashing gold, and the cape flew from the ground right into Arthur’s hand, even before the wolf that had been sitting on it, could end his surprised yelp. The next second, a ball of fire formed in Merlin’s hand and he kind of threw it right into the middle of the pack. The wolves howled and yapped, running away in every direction they could.

Merlin lowered his hand, and stared at the moon. Arthur, on the other hand, stared at the cape on his arms.

Well, that was different.

***

For a few minutes, neither men moved or said anything. Then Merlin suddenly scrambled away from Arthur, getting to his feet. He didn’t once glance at the prince, just started to climb down the tree, and finally reached the ground.

Arthur leaned back against the trunk, thinking hard. For some reason, one image came back again and again to his mind. He himself, laying on the ground, almost unconscious, seeing one of the gargoyles of the castle, alive for some creepy reason, flying towards him, ready to kill. He hadn’t been able to move one muscle. Then, he had seen out of the corner of his eyes Merlin coming, raising his hand, eyes silver-gold, and the monster had burst into dust. Arthur had closed his eyes, and only a second afterwards he had felt Merlin’s hand on his chest, on his shoulder.

Huh.

Arthur had actually thought that this had been a dream. Little had he known. He continued to sit on the branch, pondering a few other things and finally shook his head. All right, he was an idiot. A blind, deaf and very dumb idiot. And right now, a cold idiot. Arthur grabbed the second undershirt and his tunic and dressed himself. He stood up, steadying himself against the trunk and got the coat, Merlin’s tunic and the cape. Then he leaned forward slightly, and looked down.

Yeah, exactly as he had thought. He maybe was an idiot, but the biggest moron in Albion stood down there. Arthur could see the other man shivering over the distance, still only dressed in this ridiculous thin silken undershirt and pants. Instead of magicking the coat or setting a branch on fire to get a torch and then _running away, because he had just shown the Crown Prince of Camelot he could do magic_ , no, the moron stood there like a sacrificial lamb.

Arthur looked at his manservant, the sorcerer, for a few seconds, then he took aim and threw the heavy bundle of clothing down. Satisfied, he watched it hit Merlin right on the head. Merlin got all but buried under it; Arthur heard an ‘Ooomph’ and then Merlin was sitting on his arse in the snow. Served him right.

The prince started to climb down carefully, again thinking hard. Obviously, Merlin had no survival instincts at all. The guy needed someone to protect him. Fortunately, Arthur was feeling up to do so.

***

An eternity later, Arthur looked down at his manservant, sorcerer, warlock, lover, and smiled. Merlin was a sweaty, rumpled mess. Smiling some more, Arthur leaned forward and started to nibble on an ear. Gods, he was doomed. He even loved Merlin’s ears. The man beneath him made a sound, “Unf”, and bared his throat.

Arthur stared; he was becoming aroused again, and how impossible was that? But… what a rush. What a rush to see Merlin surrendering this way. By now, Arthur knew exactly who and what his manservant really was. While they had been stomping back to Camelot, Arthur had unearthed the whole truth; there had been unbelievable parts, funny parts, and horrible sad parts. Arthur hadn’t thought it possible to fall even more in love with Merlin, but that’s what happened. By the time they had reached the castle, they had been running towards Arthur’s chambers. They had startled guards, chickens and –if Arthur remembered right- Gaius on their way. And when they had arrived here… hell. Wondering if he ever would be able to leave the bed again, Arthur slowly stroked down this long, long throat with one finger.

“Arthur,” Merlin moaned, turned his head and kissed Arthur’s finger once, then he sucked it into his mouth, twirling his tongue around it. Arthur watched him, dazed. Heart pounding, he leaned forward to kiss the other man, when he suddenly found himself lying on his back, with Merlin looming above him, eyes not quite blue anymore.

And that was the other rush… how completely willing Arthur was to surrender himself to Merlin. Burying his hands into the black curls, Arthur drew Merlin’s head down for the next kiss. When they parted again a few minutes later, both of them breathing harshly, Arthur couldn’t resist; he started circling Merlin’s right ear with two of his fingers.

Eyes closed, Merlin leaned into the touch for a moment, then looked down at Arthur. “You’ve got a thing for my ears?”

“I love your ears.”

Smiling, Merlin kissed Arthur’s palm. “My ears are beautiful.”

Arthur leaned upwards to catch Merlin’s mouth for another kiss. Lips moving softly against Merlin’s, he murmured, “They surely are.”

  
The End.

~ Climb a tree – it gets you closer to heaven. ~  
 _Joyce Kilmer_


End file.
